SPbPU International Students: to Russia with Love

One of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytech University strategic plans is to make education in Russia more accessible for international students. It should be noted that SPbPU offers programs taught in English which surely spark students’ interest in the university. But what precisely makes students choose Russia rather than other countries? It’s better to ask the students themselves!

Uta HATAKAWA (Japan):

– I was interested in learning one more foreign language besides English. There are few people speaking Russian in Japan, despite that it is getting more popular and turning out to be a competitive advantage. That’s why I’ve chosen it. I am now taking individual lessons. It allows me focusing on practice and exercise spoken Russian a lot more than I would do in a group. It is important for me and I like it. I am happy living here. I have made a lot of friends among Russian students, they are kind and open minded when it comes to expressing themselves. We spend a lot of time together and I enjoy myself (smiling). I am keen on the local dance team ‘I like That’. My teammates and I were second in the National Dance Contest for professional dancers which took place in Moscow.

Chanda Mikhael’ CHISHIMBA (South Africa):

– It was an adventurous choice. This is an absolutely new country to me. My family has basic knowledge of the country, but only few people know what things are really like here. It is no exaggeration to say that most foreigners perceive Russia as mysterious, but at the same time an attractive destination. There are a lot of international students at the university. I like it that I have a chance to meet people coming from all over the world. Each of us has his own point of view on life, but there is so much I can learn from them. We take our courses in Russian, and it’s not one of the easiest languages to learn. But I like it for its quite a range of ways to express yourself (smiling).

Zhao XIAOYU (China):

– I’ve chosen Polytech because it is popular in China. Besides my acquaintance is studying here, and he told me that here are lots of Chinese students, so even if you are not good at Russian, you won’t feel lonely here, because there are your compatriots everywhere (Zhao is laughing). As I’ve already told, in China I’d chosen Engineering, because I wanted to become an engineer, and when I read the information about Russian Universities, Polytech is considered one of the best Russian universities.
My parents had read in Chinese Media about opening of SPbPU Representative Office in Shanghai, and I saw the information in Chinese Social Network ‘WECHAT’ about online student recruitment to SPbPU through this office. Lots of information we also found at the representative office’s site: it’s very comfortable, that it’s not only in Russian, but also in Chinese.

Tuomas HUHTALA (Finland):

I’ve been studying Russian language for 2 years before I came here, and then I decided to get my Russian language to the next level. While studying here I’m planning to learn a lot of Russian, meet Russian and international friends and get connections.

William EMKEN (the USA):

I just want to learn Russian better, I’ve started learning Russian for two years and I want to improve it a little bit. I think I’ll learn this language better if I live here and talk to people living here. My Institute is a partner of Polytech, so it didn’t take long to choose from the exchange options. I love being here. I want to go all around Russia: Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, places like that. Also I’d like to visit Moscow.
We wish our students the best of luck in their studies and social activities, creativity and inspiration!

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